Difference between JTextField and JFormattedTextField in Java

In this tutorial, we are going to see difference between JTextField and JFormattedTextField in Java. JTextField can be used for plain text while a JFormattedTextField is a class that can extend JTextField and it can be used to define any format for the text it contains phone numbers, email addresses, dates, etc.
 

JTextField

• JTextField is one of the most important components that allow the user to enter a text value in a single line.
• JTextField can generate ActionListener interface when we try to enter a value into the text field and it can generate CaretListener interface every time the cursor changes its position.
• JTextField can also generate MouseListener and KeyListener interfaces.

 

Example :

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class JTextFieldExample extends JFrame 
{
   public JTextFieldExample() 
   {
      setTitle("JTextField Example");
      setLayout(new FlowLayout());
      JTextField text = new JTextField(20);
      add(text);
      setSize(350,80);
      setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setVisible(true);
   }
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      new JTextFieldExample();
   }
}

Output:

 

JFormattedTextField

JFormattedTextField class is a subclass of JTextField class.

• JFormattedTextField is like JTextField, except that it checks the validity of the characters and can be associated with a Formatter that specifies the characters that the user can enter.
• JFormattedTextField is a subclass of Format class for creating a formatted text field. We can create a Formatter, customize it if necessary. We can call the constructor JFormattedTextField(Format format) which takes an argument of type Format.

 

Example :

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;

public class JFormattedTextFieldExample extends JFrame 
{
   JFormattedTextField text;
   public JFormattedTextFieldExample() 
   {
      setTitle("JTextField Example");
      setLayout(new FlowLayout());

      // Format a phone number
      try {
         MaskFormatter formatter = new MaskFormatter("##-##-##-##-##");
         formatter.setPlaceholderCharacter('#');
         text = new JFormattedTextField(formatter);
         text.setColumns(20);
      } catch(Exception e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
      }
    
      add(text);
      setSize(350,80);
      setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setVisible(true);
   }
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      new JFormattedTextFieldExample();
   }
}

Output:

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